One of the main reasons it took us ten years to finally make it to Abruzzo’s iconic Rocca Calascio Castle was entirely down to Bradt Guides Abruzzo – still the only all-encompassing printed work about the region. The castle’s nearly 5000 dizzying feet up,...

Two… …blogs for the price of one. A wordy one and a photographic one. The photos didn’t sit particularly well within the text, so I’ve grouped them all together at the end. I won’t mind if you ignore the words and scroll through directly...

In 2012 and 2013, I wrote a couple of blogs about the shrubs – and the flowers – that were doing well on our south-facing, sun-baked, shade-free, heavy blue clay acre of Abruzzo. The good news is that all the recommended shrubs are still alive, well, and...

Justifiably, Abruzzo is proud of the three magnificent Italian National Parks that lie within its boundaries, and which, along with a host of smaller Regional Parks and Nature Reserves, give the region the greatest area of protected landscape in relation to its...

Abruzzo’s three Italian National Parks – the Majella; Gran Sasso; and National Park of Abruzzo (the country’s first-ever, inaugurated in 1922) – occupy 25% of the region’s total area. Add other locally-protected habitats, and that figure rises to...

If you’re looking for an Italy holiday just for the two of you that’s off the overcrowded tourist track – yet offers gorgeous weather and spectacular scenery at prices you didn’t think existed anymore, Abruzzo could be just the place for you. Whereabouts in...